Satyam accused seek permission to eat during court recess

Hyderabad: Unable to stomach the idea of
skipping lunch on account of extended hearings into the Satyam
scam case, all six main accused on Tuesday asked the trial court
here to permit them to have their food during the court`s
lunch break.

The prime accused in the multi-crore accounting fraud,
former company chairman B Ramalinga Raju, his brother and
former MD Rama Raju, former CFO Vadlamani Srinivas and former
employees G Ramakrishna, D Venkatpathi Raju and Ch Srisailam,
filed applications on the matter.
Based on the plea, the court has asked the Superintendent
of Chanchalguda Central Prison, where Raju and his accomplices
are lodged, to proffer the views of the jail authorities.

Raju and the five other accused were out on bail till
recently. It was only after the Supreme Court cancelled their
bail that all six were put back behind bars.

In their petitions, Raju and the others requested the
Chanchalguda Jail authorities to either provide food to them
during lunch recess on trial days or alternatively allow them
to arrange food at their own expense during the break.
They also asked the court to issue orders to the jail
authorities to provide dinner to them after completion of
court proceedings.

The escort of the prisoners had refused to let them have
food during the lunch break, following which defence counsel E
Uma Maheswara Rao brought the matter to the notice of
Magistrate B V L N Chakravarthi. Rao requested that his
clients should be allowed to have fruits or biscuits wrapped
in sealed covers, like what was offered in jails.